Just how many variations on the same design can the market take? I guess the fair answer to that is different from person to person and there’s always the good old saying according to which you shouldn’t fix something that is not broken (or, in this case, that still sells).

Apple’s iPhones look fairly the same; of course there are differences from one major iteration to the other (3, 4, 5) but the design principle is alike.

So, for a new contender like Jolla to emerge from the ashes of Nokia's "burning platform," dust off a discarded gem like MeeGo, and say, "we're gonna make a go of it" is the stuff of high drama in the mobile world. That's probably as exciting as it gets for we followers of the underdogs. But it's important to overcome the initial, instinctive surge of hopeful adrenaline so we can ask a crucial, if sobering, question: in this climate, can any new smartphone OS hope to survive?

Those (many) who complained or felt a bit bitter about Nokia turning towards Microsoft instead of Google for their new platform of choice should pay special attention to NITDroid and “Project Mayhem”. It’s as close as it gets when it comes to Android on a Nokia device, in this case the N9.

It’s not just any build of Android, but 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich! As we reported on its progress earlier, the “Project Mayhem” Alpha Release 1 is now out and allows for a dual-boot kernel to let you choose between platforms at start-up.

The PR1.2 update for the MeeGo-powered Nokia N9 hasn’t even started rolling out yet and we’re hearing rumors of PR1.3 already in the testing phase. PR1.2 is expected to bring more than 3,500 improvements when it will be hitting N9 devices (after the N950).

As far as PR1.3 is concerned, we’re already received hints of its existence last month. However, a report unveiled that PR1.3 is already in use, probably in testing, as uncovered with the help of a bug posted. The PR1.3 reference is the only one mentioning the update and, while it can be just an error, we [...]

For a phone that never really had a fair shot to be successful, cursed to launch as the lone handset on a dying platform, the Nokia N9 has been surprisingly prolific. Perhaps more than in any other way, it’s the phone’s design that has had the most influence in shaping the direction of the company’s follow-up work on Lumia-series Windows Phone handsets. To a dedicated group of users, the N9 is undervalued hardware worth fighting for, and they’ve been hard at work looking for ways to expand its functionality. One of the most ambitious projects is to bring the [...]

Overnight, we told you about the big MeeGo Harmattan PR1.2 update that will soon be going out to owners of the N9. All told, PR1.2 is supposed to be one pretty-darn feature-packed release, containing what Nokia claims to be over 3,500 fixes and other improvements. While that all sounded great, we still didn’t know just when the update would be arriving. It’s still nothing absolute, but some tweets from a Nokia employee now give us an idea of just when PR1.2 might land for the N9.

Sotiris Makrygiannis is Nokia’s Director of applications for Meego, so he’s [...]

When we reviewed the Nokia N9 back in November we had a couple of comments related to the software side. The PR1.2 update — we saw its initial screenshots last year — should bring a couple of features as we’ve recently heard.

Turns out that video calling, application folders, Camera and Gallery improvements are not the only new things to grace the N9. There will be a total number of more than 3,500 fixes, tweaks and improvements. The information comes officially from Nokia and, if you happen to have a Nokia N950 developer device, the new Harmattan PR1.2 update [...]

Right after we reviewed the MeeGo-powered Nokia N9 back in November — and complained about some of the missing features of the platform — screenshots emerged of a PR1.2 update, though without any specific details.

Recently, some more screenshots indicate what might also be included with the platform refresh. One of the thing we complained about in the N9 (running MeeGo PR1.1 back then) was the fact that there was absolutely no use for the front-facing camera. PR1.2 seems to resolve that with the addition of video calling capabilities.

The MeeGo-powered Nokia N9, basically the twin brother of the Lumia 800 Windows Phone, is available in the U.K. via etailers like eXpansys. Usually the phone goes £454.99 (around $700) but if you hurry you might grab it at a much lower price.

The pink one goes for £369.99 (roughly $570) and the cyan for £379.99 (around $585). These are all 16GB versions but if you prefer to have more storage and opt for the 64GB variant, you’ll have to spend £579.99 (around $895). These prices are for unlocked phones with no contract and checking out the source links below you can also see [...]

Nokia has already started distributing the PR1.1 for the MeeGo-powered N9 but it’s good to know that the manufacturer is dedicated to maintaining the phone up to date. Screenshots of what appears to be PR1.2 have surfaced on the internet.

Apparently there will be many new and cool things added to the phone. There’s a new button to manage applications, a new camera user interface that has separate controls for the camera flash and options, same with video recording LED flash, new and stylish buttons, color profiles, face recognition in Gallery and more. Check out the [...]

Initially there were no plans for Nokia to bring its MeeGo-powered N9 to America but it appears that the Finnish manufacturer might have changed its mind. If you follow the source link to Amazon you’ll see the phone listed with “Nokia” as its seller.

You’ll currently pay $649.99 for the phone, and, as we told you with the occasion of our review, it’s a great device, though current iOS, Android and Windows Phone users are unlikely to jump ship and on-board the MeeGo train. If you’re new to smartphones the N9 is a great addition though the price [...]

Nokia’s N9 started getting its first major update, to PR1.1, earlier this month. The feature list contained a whole assortment of changes, and helped out with phone performance thanks to tweaks in multitasking and memory management. Nokia’s just revealed one change that didn’t make it into PR1.1 and will arrive in a future update, altering how the phone’s default font appears in an effort to make it more readable.

The problem now, as Nokia sees it, is that adjacent lines of the default Nokia Pure Text font are spaced too closely together. If you’re [...]

The Nokia N9 was announced as being the first “pure-touch” smartphone without the need or presence of hardware/capacitive buttons on the front of the device in order to operate it. It is powered by MeeGo, a platform Stephen Elop said “inspires both confidence and excitement” in October 2010; that was before the February 2011 moment where Nokia decided to go Windows Phone and abandon the platform.

However, Espoo chose to give MeeGo a chance on its Nokia N9 and they did a good job! The phone is built around the single gesture common to all people, which is [...]

We all know that Nokia is known for the attention it gives to the cameras in its smartphones. Apparently, though, not everyone who bought themselves a new Lumia 800 is singing the praises for that model’s camera. According to some recent Twitter posts by Nokia’s Damian Dinning, a software update is in the works that should hopefully bump-up image quality for both the Lumia 800, as well as its cousin, the N9.

Details on just what improvements may be in store aren’t yet available. The reports of Lumia 800 quality problems that we’ve seen indicate that it [...]

We’ve recently heard that Nokia is planning to roll-out a certain PR1.1 update for the MeeGo-powered Nokia N9 by the end of this year and it looks like some N9 owners are already receiving the platform refresh.

The software update version number is 20.2011.40-4 and, aside from the fixes, it brings a couple of new features to the table like music controls on lock screen, color filters (black & white, sepia, vivid, negative, solarize) for photo and video shooting, more powerful multitasking with improved memory handling, Swype for fast typing, new indicators for standby [...]

Regardless if we are referring to products that are already available on the market — such as the Symbian-powered Nokia N8 or the MeeGo-powered Nokia N9 — or those which were recently unveiled — like the Lumia 800 running Windows Phone — Simon Lee-Smith, Telefonica’s European General Manager for Devices, thinks they are “too expensive”.

“If Nokia wants to sell in volume, they need to bring out devices which are cost-competitive”, he added, noting that Nokia’s premium devices are “not yet at the right price [...]

Nokia has built the N9 without any buttons, capacitive or hardware. Having MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan at its core, the experience of the N9 is based on a simple gesture: the swipe. That’s all you need to operate the device.

It’s not Android, iOS or Windows Phone but it definitely has a couple of accents and similarities with all the aforementioned operating systems. Overall the phone seems snappy but the biggest problem with MeeGo (aside from the fact that Nokia abandoned it) is the lack of applications in the Nokia Store. We take a brief look at the experience Nokia [...]

After unboxing and taking a look at the hardware on the MeeGo-powered Nokia N9, we are now taking a look at the camera capabilities on the phone. We’re looking at both imaging and recording.

The Nokia N9 features an f/2.2 eight-megapixel auto focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash and super wide 28mm lens, delivering 16:9 720p video recording with stereo sound. The camera is particularly interesting because it will be the same one Nokia uses on the recently announced Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone. Let’s take a look at the samples below! Note: YouTube [...]

Nokia World wasn’t only about the Lumia Windows Phones and some S^40 Asha devices. The Finnish manufacturer took its time to revisit the Nokia N9, which lends its aspect to the Lumia 800, and announce a new color together with a software update.

Initially announced and available in pink, cyan and black (pretty much the colors for the Lumia 800), the MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan-powered N9 will also get a white variant (and hopefully so will the Lumia Windows Phone). It will be available this year and, opposed to the other N9 devices, it will sport a glossy finish rather than a [...]

Everything about the Nokia N9 speaks of quality, that premium feel which you’re used to when holding (not only) high-end devices made by the Finnish manufacturer based in Espoo.

After the unboxing we’re looking at the hardware on the Nokia N9. It sports a 3.9-inch curved glass AMOLED display of FWVGA resolution (854 x 480 pixels), and it’s powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP3630 1GHz CPU aided by a PowerVR SGX530 GPU. There’s 1GB RAM on board as well as either 16GB or 64GB of internal storage. Our unit has 16GB of storage.

Nokia has officially unveiled the N9 as the “first-ever pure touch smartphone” back in June (now, four months after, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus can say it’s “pure-touch” phone too) and it doesn’t run Symbian nor Windows Phone but MeeGo.

With a 3.9-inch curved glass AMOLED display of FWVGA resolution (854 x 480 pixels), the N9 is powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP3630 1GHz CPU aided but a PowerVR SGX530 GPU. There’s 1GB RAM on board as well as either 16GB in the model which we are currently unboxing.